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Adults under 65 with disabilities and underlying health conditions will soon be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, but disability rights advocates fear that efforts to force people to prove their eligibility could prevent or discourage some from getting the potentially life-saving vaccine.
Starting March 15, two groups of younger, high-risk Californians – people with disabilities and people with severe underlying illnesses – will be able to get the coronavirus vaccine, public health officials said Friday.
But they have yet to say how high-risk Californians will be asked to prove they are eligible, or how authorities plan to prevent people who do not meet these qualifications from making appointments or making appointments. other. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr Mark Ghaly said the state will spend the next month determining what type of verification is required.
For a senior to prove they are eligible for vaccination because of their age, a driver’s license or other piece of identification will do. For someone with a disability or illness to prove they are eligible for vaccination, medical authorities say, no universal document is available.
Some disability rights advocates downplay the likelihood of fraud, but say making the process of proving underlying disabilities or health issues could be too onerous and end up preventing or discouraging some people from getting the vaccine.
“As a person with a disability, I want to make sure that we don’t need to have proof of our disability that forces people to jump too many barriers,” said Christina Mills, executive director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers and member of a committee that advises the state on its immunization rollout.
The underlying conditions that will result in vaccine eligibility in March include cancer, chronic kidney disease stage four or higher, chronic lung disease, Down syndrome, a weakened immune system following a solid organ transplant , sickle cell disease, pregnancy, heart problems, severe obesity – defined as a body mass index equal to or greater than 40 – and type 2 diabetes. The state has not specified which disabilities would include people in this next group.
Andy Imparato, executive director of Disability Rights California, also a member of the advisory committee, said many people with severe disabilities have cards or documents enrolling them in programs or centers or showing they are receiving care at home. But people with disabilities and qualifying underlying conditions don’t necessarily carry cards that would prove their eligibility.
A woman in her early pregnancy, for example, might have nothing more than the results of a home pregnancy test to prove her entitlement to an injection under the expanded eligibility rules.
It could be difficult to require eligible people to see or call their doctors for some sort of verification, as many medical providers are already overworked, he said. Mills said disability rights advocates had fought proposals that would have required people seeking immunizations to provide three proofs of disability or underlying conditions.
“I hope the concerns about fraud don’t create barriers for people who get the vaccine,” Imparato said.
Both Imparato and Mills have said they don’t expect many people feigning disabilities to get vaccinated, but acknowledge it is a concern of state officials.
Bypassing the rules is not unheard of when it comes to health-related exemptions. Law enforcement officials have long complained about abuses in the use of blue disabled parking permits by non-disabled people, and airlines have worried about the proliferation of emotional support companions – to the point that some are taking measures to ban them from theft.
San Francisco Chronicle editor Steve Rubenstein contributed to this report.
Michael Cabanatuan is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]
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